Concerned over the growing number of sexual harassment cases in the country, a Delhi High Court Judge Justice Hima Kohli on Saturday said awareness on rape laws through education can reduce the figure.
She said there is need to spread awareness about the laws on sexual harassment and similar cases among people.
She was addressing a seminar, focusing on the growing number of sexual harassment and eve teasing cases in the country, which was organised by the The Inner Wheel Club of Delhi, in association with Amritam.
“It's our responsibility and I appreciate the initiative by The Inner Wheel and Amritam for providing this platform and raise the voice demanding the full compliance on this particular law,” Justice Kohli added.
“We hope this will help us to educate the people about the law and also to reduce the number of such cases.”
The organisation demanded full compliance of sexual harassment law in the country. More than 200 delegates participated in the same with panelists from different spheres of the life.
More than 500 cases on sexual harassment at workplace were noticed last year.
Speaking at the session, Suman Nalwa, DCP - Training, Delhi Police said, “We have observed similar number of cases from workplace as well as domestic issues which depicts that both educated and uneducated part of society need proper information about the law.” Nalwa said the women should be strong, not play a victim, stand up and deal with it and never underestimate her abilities.
Sharing her opinion on the matter, Gayatri Puri, legal Advisor, Inner Wheel Club — Delhi Qutub, said she has been noticing ignorance among the companies and individuals regarding the law on sexual harassment which is aggravating the raise in such cases. The best way to stop these matters is to educate and make people aware about the law in the right way, she added.
The delegates also raised their concern about the poor compliance of the law in the country which is a major reason of the growing number of such cases. They held that lack of awareness of the law and women rights, most of the cases goes unreported and due to poor compliance, it goes unreported.